Stupid Chain Question #457

 

Have the tool, waiting on my new chain and sprockets from Honda ...

Was gonna take my bike to Detroit, about time to lube and possibly adjust
the chain.

While doing the roll-spray-roll-spray-... bit, noticed that in one place the
chain seemed kinked.  Determined that at one joint is is very hard to move,
and it didn't really get easier when I tried to work some oil in.

Decided to take the truck to Detroit instead.

What does this mean?

The chain is near the end of its life, anyway, but I've lubed it every
500-600 miles pretty consistently ... what has happened internally in the
link?

11.7K on the bike, 2006 Honda Shadow 600.

I'm just a bit curious because all the rest of the links are fine ...

 

David T. Ashley wrote:


You paid a *lot* more for gas.

--
   -bts
   -Friends don't let friends drive Windows

 

David T. Ashley wrote:


You need to understand what grease is. It's a "soapy" material like lithium
or
calcium (1) that holds a very few precious drops of oil in the place where
you
want it to stay. The soapy material in soft greases melts at a low
temperature
and the oil runs away when this happens, unless there is an oil seal or o-
ring
to hold it in place. Hard greases melt at a higher temperature, but, when the

essential oil is gone, all you have left is the soapy stuff and it doesn't
lubricate
very well. So that link kinks. When you break the chain just grind the staked

ends of the kinked link's pins offand examine the substance inside the link.
It will look like black dirt.

(1) Don't bother asking if you can wash your hair with the soapy binder.
That's
already been suggested by a smart aleck.

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OK, your model is no lube left.

I was just curious if something interesting was going on inside, like
wearing through a bushing.  But apparently not.

I will grind it off when all is said and done and have a look.

I'm nearly bald, so there might be just enough there to wash my hair.

Thanks for the info.

 

David T. Ashley wrote:


Well, the bushing does wear, but most of us don't have any
 to measure the wear on an interior surface. I suppose the
bushing could have as much as 0.050 inches of wear when
the chain is no longer serviceable. The steel link pin
is a lot harder than the bushing it bears upon when the grease
has given up all its precious oil. Engineers know
all about how various soft materials will wear upon harder materials.
When you inspect the link pins, you will notice that the same side is
worn flat on each pin. If you measure top to bottom of the pin with a
vernier caliper and then measure side to side, you will see that there
is only about 0.003 to 0.005 inches of wear. The cumulative wear on
100 pins might be 0.500 inches, and that's enough to reach the
limit markers on your swing arm.

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